Carrying vessel, such as purse, with electrical conduits

ABSTRACT

In an aspect, a carrying vessel is provided and includes a main body that defines a storage chamber, an actuator, a battery and an electrical conduit. The main body has an outer surface having an animate character feature thereon that is representative of a feature on a character. The actuator is contained within the main body, and which is operatively connected to the animate character feature, and is operable to move the animate character feature. The electrical conduit operatively connects the battery to the actuator for driving operation of the actuator to move the animate character feature. The main body includes a plurality of layers of material. At least a portion of the electrical conduit extends between the plurality of the layers.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of Japanese patent application no. 2020-027370 filed Feb. 20, 2020, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

This application relates to carrying vessels such as purses, and more particularly to carrying vessels that include features that are representative of a character.

BACKGROUND

Carrying vessels, such as purses, having an appearance of a character or the like are known. An example of such a carrying vessel is shown in Japanese Utility Model 3133151U. Facial features can be changed by manually moving the facial features, which are detachably connected to an outer surface of the carrying vessel. While this provides some entertainment value, it would be beneficial to increase the entertainment value of a carrying vessel beyond this.

SUMMARY

In an aspect, a carrying vessel is provided and includes a main body that defines a storage chamber, an actuator, a battery and an electrical conduit. The main body has an outer surface having an animate character feature thereon that is representative of a feature on a character. The actuator is contained within the main body, and which is operatively connected to the animate character feature, and is operable to move the animate character feature. The electrical conduit operatively connects the battery to the actuator for driving operation of the actuator to move the animate character feature. The main body includes a plurality of layers of material. At least a portion of the electrical conduit extends between the plurality of the layers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other aspects of the disclosure will be better understood with reference to the attached drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation view of a carrying vessel in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the carrying vessel shown in FIG. 1.

FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C are plan views of portion corresponding to a face of a character that is part of the carrying vessel shown in FIG. 1, illustrating different expressions on the face.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a portion of the carrying vessel shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of another portion of the carrying vessel shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 6A is a plan view of a battery pocket of the carrying vessel shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 6B is an elevation view of the battery pocket of the carrying vessel shown in FIG. 1, showing.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a conduit space of the carrying vessel shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a control unit for the carrying vessel shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of a conduit space of a carrying vessel according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a plan view of the carrying vessel shown in FIG. 1, in proximity to another one of the carrying vessel shown in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

For simplicity and clarity of illustration, where considered appropriate, reference numerals may be repeated among the drawings to indicate corresponding or analogous elements. In addition, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiment or embodiments described herein. However, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments described herein may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures and components have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the embodiments described herein. It should be understood at the outset that, although exemplary embodiments are illustrated in the drawings and described below, the principles of the present disclosure may be implemented using any number of techniques, whether currently known or not. The present disclosure should in no way be limited to the exemplary implementations and techniques illustrated in the drawings and described below.

Various terms used throughout the present description may be read and understood as follows, unless the context indicates otherwise: “or” as used throughout is inclusive, as though written “and/or”; singular articles and pronouns as used throughout include their plural forms, and vice versa; similarly, gendered pronouns include their counterpart pronouns so that pronouns should not be understood as limiting anything described herein to use, implementation, performance, etc. by a single gender; “exemplary” should be understood as “illustrative” or “exemplifying” and not necessarily as “preferred” over other embodiments. Further definitions for terms may be set out herein; these may apply to prior and subsequent instances of those terms, as will be understood from a reading of the present description.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the systems, apparatuses, and methods described herein without departing from the scope of the disclosure. For example, the components of the systems and apparatuses may be integrated or separated. Moreover, the operations of the systems and apparatuses disclosed herein may be performed by more, fewer, or other components and the methods described may include more, fewer, or other steps. Additionally, steps may be performed in any suitable order. As used in this document, “each” refers to each member of a set or each member of a subset of a set.

Any module, unit, component, server, computer, terminal, engine or device exemplified herein that executes instructions may include or otherwise have access to computer readable media such as storage media, computer storage media, or data storage devices (removable and/or non-removable) such as, for example, magnetic disks, optical disks, or tape. Computer storage media may include volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information, such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data. Examples of computer storage media include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by an application, module, or both. Any such computer storage media may be part of the device or accessible or connectable thereto. Further, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, any processor or controller set out herein may be implemented as a singular processor or as a plurality of processors. The plurality of processors may be arrayed or distributed, and any processing function referred to herein may be carried out by one or by a plurality of processors, even though a single processor may be exemplified. Any method, application or module herein described may be implemented using computer readable/executable instructions that may be stored or otherwise held by such computer readable media and executed by the one or more processors.

FIGS. 1 and 2 are a front view and a side view, respectively, of a carrying vessel 1 in accordance with the present disclosure. The carrying vessel 1 is a purse. However, in alternative embodiments, the carrying vessel 1 may be a shoulder bag, a handbag, a clutch, a rucksack or any other suitable type of carrying vessel.

The carrying vessel 1 includes a main body 10 that defines a storage chamber S having a chamber opening 51, and which has an outer surface 30. The outer surface 30 has an animate character feature 2 thereon that is representative of a feature on a character. In the present embodiment, the outer surface 30 includes a plurality of character features including a tail 12, and further including face that includes two eyes 8 (each including an eyeball 8 a and an eyelid 8 b), two ears 7, a nose 9, and a mouth 11. In the embodiment shown, the ears 7, the eyelids 8 b and the tail are all animate character features 2. It will be noted that the carrying vessel 1 could include fewer than or more than the number of animate character features 2 than are shown herein. The tail 12 is movable between a first position (shown in solid lines in FIG. 1) and a second position (shown in broken lines in FIG. 1). The eyelids 8 a are movable between first, second and third positions shown in FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C respectively. The ears 7 are movable between a first position (shown in solid lines in FIG. 2) and a second position (shown in broken lines in FIG. 2).

The eyeballs 8 a, the nose 9 and the mouth 11 may all be inanimate character features. The eyeballs 8 a may simply be images of eyeballs, as opposed to being actual spherical bodies. In some embodiments, such as that shown in FIGS. 3A-3C, the eyeballs 8 a may be small displays shown at 31 in FIGS. 3A-3C. These displays 31, which may be, for example, LCDs, show images of eyeballs and can be controlled to show movement of the images of the eyeballs. As can be seen, the displays 31 are displaying the images of the eyeballs in a first position in FIG. 3A, and in a second, different position, in FIGS. 3B and 3C. The nose 9 and the mouth 11 may be simple images of a nose and a mouth of the character on the outer surface 30 of the main body 10.

The character features shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 are representative of a cat. However, it will be understood that the character features could be representative of a different animal such as a dog, or of a character that is not an animal such as a person, or of a different kind of character, such as a fictitious animal (e.g. a dragon), an animated movie or television character (e.g. Robo-Dog from the animated television series Paw Patrol®), a robot, a vehicle, or any other type of character.

The carrying vessel 1 further includes an actuator 3 that is contained within the main body 10 and which is operatively connected to the animate character feature 2, and is operable to move the animate character feature 2. In FIG. 1, the actuator 3 is shown as a rotary solenoid. However, it will be noted that the actuator 3 may be any other suitable device such as, for example a linear solenoid, or an electric motor. The actuator 3 is preferably electrically operable.

The tail 12 may be connected to the output member of the rotary solenoid that is the actuator 3 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1. The rotary solenoid may pivot back and forth between a first angular position and a second angular position to generate the appearance that the character is wagging the tail 12. A suitable position sensor shown at 37 can be provided for detecting the position of the animate character feature 2, so as to assist in determining when the animate character feature 2 as reached whichever of the first or second positions it is being driven towards. The position sensor 37 could alternatively be omitted.

With reference to FIGS. 3A-3C, the actuator 3 is shown as a three-position linear solenoid. The actuator 3 in this example is in a retracted position (FIG. 3A) which holds the eyelid 8 b in a fully open position, in a fully extended position (FIG. 3B) which holds the eyelid 8 b in a fully closed position, and in a partially extended position (FIG. 30) which holds the eyelid 8 b in a partially open position. The expression represented for the character in FIG. 3A may be happy or loving. The expression represented for the character in FIG. 3B may be winking (if only one eyelid 8 b is closed). The expression represented for the character in FIG. 3C may be mean or angry.

The actuators 3 may be mounted underneath the eyelids 8 b so as to not be seen from outside the carrying vessel 1 so as to add to the illusion that the carrying vessel 1 is alive.

Suitable actuators 3 for the ears 7 may be rotary solenoids, in similar manner to the actuator 3 for the tail 12.

The carrying vessel 1 further includes a battery 4 that is shown in FIG. 6A. The battery 4 may be a rechargeable battery, or may be a non-rechargeable battery.

As shown in FIG. 8, the carrying vessel 1 further includes an electrical conduit 5 that operatively connects the battery 4 to the actuator 3 for driving operation of the actuator 3 to move the animate character feature 2. In the example embodiment shown the carrying vessel 1 includes a control unit 6, which controls the includes a memory 6 a and a processor 6 b, and which is programmed to control transmission of current from the battery 4 to the animate character feature 2. The control unit 6 receives current from the battery 4 and controls the transmission of the current through the electrical conduit 5 to the actuator 3, depending on the programming that is present in the memory 6 a and is being executed by the processor 6 b. The control unit 6 and the battery 4 are also shown in FIGS. 1 and 6A.

The main body 10 includes a storage member 14 and a cover 16. The storage member 14 may have a plurality of walls 13, including front and rear walls 13 a and side walls 13 b. The front and rear walls 13 a may be formed from a single contiguous piece of material or may alternatively be formed from separate materials. The cover 16 may also be formed from the same single piece of material as the front and rear walls 13 a, or from a separate piece of material. The storage member 14 and the cover 16 together may define the storage chamber S, which is used to store personal items that belong to the user. The walls 13 may each be formed from a plurality of layers 17 of material as shown in FIGS. 6A, 7 and 9. Accordingly, it may be said that the main body 10 includes a plurality of layers 17 of material.

In some embodiments, the layers 17 of material may be layers of genuine or artificial leather. In other embodiments, the layers 17 may be any other suitable material. The layers 17 need not all be made of the same material.

The layers 17 may be held together by glue, and/or by being sewn together along their respective edges, and/or by joining members shown at 18. The joining members 18 may also be strips of material that are glued along the edges of the layers 18.

The layers 17 may include an outer layer 17 a that may be made from genuine or artificial leather, and an inner layer 17 b that is a lining material that may be, for example, a cloth material, a satin or a silk material. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 9, the layers 17 further include an intermediate layer 17 c, which may be, for example a structural layer made from a material such as plastic or cardboard.

In some regions of the main body 10, a space R (FIG. 7) may be provided between the layers 17 of the walls 13. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 9, two spaces R are provided, a first space R (shown individually at R1) between the outer layer 17 a and the intermediate layer 17 c, and a second space R (shown individually at R2) between the inner layer 17 b and the intermediate layer 17 c.

As can be seen in FIGS. 7 and 9, at least a portion of the electrical conduit 5 extends in the space R between the layers 17. Accordingly, the space R may be referred to as a conduit space.

By providing the conduit space R between the layers 17 of material that make up the walls 13 of the carrying vessel 1, the electrical conduit 5 is protected from damage or accidental disconnection from the components that it is intended to connect electrically.

The battery 4 may be stored in a battery pocket 28 that is formed inside the storage chamber S. The battery pocket 28 may have an opening S2 (FIG. 6B) at its top so as to permit easy access to the battery 4 for recharging or for replacement. The battery pocket 28 may optionally be covered at the top by a battery pocket cover 40 that is openable to permit access to the battery 4. The battery pocket cover 40 may have a first connector 42 a that removably connects with a second connector 42 b on the wall shown at 44 that in part forms the battery pocket 28. The first and second connectors 42 a and 42 b for the battery pocket 28 may be similar to the first and second connectors 19 a and 19 b of the main body 10 and may be magnetically attracted to one another. Alternatively, the battery pocket 28 may be covered without permitting access to the battery 4. In such an instance the battery 4 could be rechargeable and could be charged via a connection terminal that extends through the wall 44 of the battery pocket 28. The wall 44 of the battery pocket 28 may be formed, as shown, by the inner layer 17 b of material.

The battery 4 may be stored in a battery housing 32. The battery housing 32 may be sized to hold one or a plurality of the battery 4, and holds the battery 4 in a selected position to hold it in electrical connection with whatever electrical conduit extends to the control unit 6.

The carrying vessel 1 may include an optional storage pocket 27 that can be used to store a subset of items in the storage chamber S. The storage pocket 27 may have an upper opening that has an openable cover or which may alternatively include no cover.

The carrying vessel 1 may optionally include an output device. In an example, the output device may be a speaker shown at 33. In another example, the output device may include a display or one or more LEDs. In another example, the output device may include an RF transmitter. In yet another example, the output device may be considered to be the tail 12 and/or the eyelids 8 b, and/or the ears 7, which, when moved may be said to emit visual output. Thus it may be said that the output device is configured to provide at least one output that is selected from the group of outputs consisting of audio output, RF output, and visual output.

In embodiments in which the output device is the speaker 33, the speaker 33 may be used to provide audio output (i.e. sounds) that are representative of the sounds emitted by the character represented by the carrying vessel 1. For example, the speaker 33 shown in the figures may be used to emit meowing sounds.

The carrying vessel 1 may optionally include an input sensor 36. The input sensor 36 receives input and sends signals to the control unit 6 based on the input. The input sensor 36 may be a camera, and may thus transmit image data to the control unit 6. The input sensor 36 may be a microphone and may thus transmit audio data to the control unit 6. The input sensor 36 may be a touch sensor, in which case it transmits signals to the control unit 6 based on sensing touch, or alternatively touch that is applied with at least a selected force.

The input sensor 36 may be connected to the control unit 6 by way of an electrical conduit 34. The electrical conduit 34 may pass through a conduit space R in the same manner that the electric conduit 5 does.

In embodiments in which the input sensor 36 is a touch sensor (as shown in FIG. 1), the input sensor 36 may be positioned in a suitable place for the user to pat the character. For example, in an embodiment where the character that is represented is a cat, the input sensor 36 may be positioned in a region representing a top of the head of the cat. The input sensor 36 is thus positioned to detect patting of the carrying vessel 1 in at least one selected location of the outer surface 30.

In embodiments in which the input sensor 36 is a microphone, the input sensor 36 could be used to detect speech by the user that is holding the carrying device 1. For example, the user could say a particular character feature and the control unit 6 could be programmed to move that character feature (if that character feature is an animate character feature 2).

In some embodiments, the carrying device 1 includes a Bluetooth card 39. The Bluetooth card 39 may be considered to be an input sensor 36 since it can detect RF output from an RF transmitter. A Bluetooth card 39 also may be considered an output device, since it is capable of emit output in the form of RF signals. Thus, the Bluetooth card 39 may be considered an input sensor on a first one of the carrying device 1 (shown individually at 1a in FIG. 10) and may be considered an output device on a second one of the carrying vessel 1 (shown individually at 1 b in FIG. 10). It may be that the second one 1 b of the carrying vessel 1 is programmed to periodically emit RF signals from its Bluetooth card 39, which are received by the Bluetooth card 39 on the first one 1 a of the carrying vessel 1 and are transmitted to the control unit 6 on the first one 1 a of the carrying vessel 1.

The control unit 6 on the first one 1 a of the carrying vessel 1 may be programmed to emit at least one output based on receiving the output from the second one 1 b of the carrying vessel 1. For example, the control unit 6 on the first one 1 a of the carrying vessel 1 may be programmed to emit a meowing sound based on receiving an RF signal from the second one 1 b of the carrying vessel 1. Additionally or alternatively, the control unit 6 on the first one 1 a of the carrying vessel 1 may be programmed to generate wagging of the tail 12 and/or to cause one of the eyelids 8 b to move to a closed (winking) position and/or to emit other visual output based on receiving an RF signal from the second one 1 b of the carrying vessel 1.

Instead of receiving RF signals from the Bluetooth card 39 on the second one 1 b of the carrying vessel 1, the input sensor 36 on the first one 1 a of the carrying vessel 1 may be a microphone, and the control unit 6 on the first one 1 a of the carrying vessel 1 may be programmed to detect sounds emitted by the speaker 33 that is optionally provided on the second one 1 b of the carrying vessel 1. The control unit 6 on the first one 1 a of the carrying vessel 1 may be programmed to emit a meowing sound from its own speaker 33, based on receiving the sound from the second one 1 b of the carrying vessel 1.

The Bluetooth card 39 may additionally be identified as a wireless communications interface, and is connected to the control unit 6 by an electrical conduit 38. The Bluetooth card 39 may additionally or alternatively be used to communicate with a portable electronic device such as a smartphone, enabling the carrying vessel 1 to notify the user of its state or charge or other information, or to receive updates to the programming of the control unit 6 in certain embodiments.

The conduit space R formed in the main body 10 may optionally be accessed from a conduit access port 20, which may be, for example, an opening (FIG. 5) in the inner layer 17 b. The conduit access port 20 may include an optional openable closure 21 such as a zipper, or a hook-and-loop fastener, or overlapping flaps of material from the inner layer 17 b of material. Permitting the user to access the electrical conduits 5, 34 and/or 38 can be helpful in case one of the electrical conduits 5, 34 and/or 38 needs replacement or inspection.

A suitable connection is formed by a first connector 19 a on the cover 16 and a second connector 19 b on the storage member 14 so as to enable the user to easily close and open the carrying vessel 1. For example, one of the first connector 19 a and the second connector 19 b may be a magnet and the other of the first connector and the second connector 18 b may be a magnetically responsive member, such as another magnet or a member that is ferromagnetic. Thus the first and second connectors 19 a and 19 b are magnetically attracted to one another.

Referring to FIG. 2, the first ring 22 is attached to the storage member 14 on each side of the storage member 14, specifically to the side walls 13 b. A link 24 is connected to each first ring 22. A second ring 25 is rotatably connected to each link 24. The shoulder strap 23 is connected to the second rings 25. The shoulder strap 23 is usable by the user to carry the carrying vessel 1 on the user's shoulder (not shown), as is well-known in the art of purses. A handle 26 is also provided to permit the user to hold the carrying vessel 1 without using the shoulder strap 23.

By providing at least one animate character feature to the carrying vessel 1, the carrying vessel 1 may provide the illusion of being the represented character and of being alive. This effect is enhanced further by providing the input sensor 36, which then permits the operation of the animate character feature 2 to be responsive to events in the environment of the carrying vessel 1.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the embodiments disclosed herein can be modified or adapted in various other ways whilst still keeping within the scope of the appended claims.

LIST OF ELEMENTS

1 carrying vessel 1 a first one of the carrying vessel 1 b second one of the carrying vessel 2 animate character feature 3 actuator 4 battery 5 electrical conduit 6 control unit 6 a memory 6 b processor 7 ears 8 eyes 8 a eyeball 8 b eyelid 9 nose 10 main body 11 mouth 12 tail 23 wall 13 a front wall 13 b side wall 14 storage member 16 cover 17 layers of material 18 joining member 19 a, 19 b first and second main body connectors 20 conduit access port 22 first ring 23 shoulder strap 24 link 25 second ring 26 handle 27 storage pocket 28 battery pocket 30 outer surface of main body 32 battery housing 33 speaker 34 electrical conduit 36 input sensor 37 position sensor 38 electrical conduit 39 Bluetooth card 40 cover for battery pocket 42 a, 42 b first and second battery pocket connectors R conduit space R1 conduit space R2 conduit space S storage space inside carrying vessel S1 opening into storage space 

What is claimed is:
 1. A carrying vessel, comprising: a main body that defines a storage chamber, wherein the main body has an outer surface having an animate character feature thereon that is representative of a feature on a character; an actuator contained within the main body, and which is operatively connected to the animate character feature, and is operable to move the animate character feature; a battery; an electrical conduit that operatively connects the battery to the actuator for driving operation of the actuator to move the animate character feature, wherein the main body includes a plurality of layers of material, wherein at least a portion of the electrical conduit extends between the plurality of the layers.
 2. A carrying vessel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the main body includes a battery pocket in which the battery is positioned.
 3. A carrying vessel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the main body includes a storage member and a cover that covers a storage member opening in the storage member, wherein the storage member opening permits access to the storage chamber.
 4. A carrying vessel as claimed in claim 3, wherein the animate character feature is on the cover.
 5. A carrying vessel as claimed in claim 4, wherein the animate character feature is an eyelid that is movable to cover at least a portion of an eye that is represented on the cover.
 6. A carrying vessel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the animate character feature is a tail.
 7. A carrying vessel as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a control unit that includes a memory and a processor, wherein the control unit is programmed to control transmission of current from the battery to the animate character feature.
 8. A carrying vessel as claimed in claim 7, further comprising an input sensor that sends signals to the control unit based on input by a user, and wherein the control unit is programmed to control transmission of current from the battery to the animate character feature.
 9. A carrying vessel as claimed in claim 8, wherein the input sensor is a touch sensor that is positioned to detect patting of the carrying vessel in at least one selected location of the outer surface.
 10. A carrying vessel as claimed in claim 9, further comprising an output device that emits at least one output that is selected from the group of outputs consisting of audio output, RF output, and visual output.
 11. A carrying vessel as claimed in claim 10, wherein the carrying vessel is a first one of the carrying vessel and wherein, when in proximity to a second one of the carrying vessel, the control unit on the first one of the carrying vessel is programmed to emit at least one of the at least one output based on receiving via the input sensor on the first one of the carrying vessel at least one of the at least one output from the output device on the second one of the carrying vessel. 